Known electronic messaging software clients (“messaging clients”), such as e-mail software applications operating on desktop computer systems, can use only one set of messaging settings at a time. Messaging settings may be established, using a mouse, a keyboard or another input device for example, to control such message characteristics as formats, fonts, and common text that should appear in all outgoing messages, as well as secure messaging characteristics such as message signing, encryption, and steganography, including message hiding and other obfuscation schemes, for example. Although a user may establish more than one group of settings, only one group, previously selected as current or default settings, controls messaging operations on a messaging client at any time. In order to configure different message characteristics than those established in the current settings for an outgoing message, the current settings must be over-ridden or another group of settings must be selected. These operations may be cumbersome, particularly when message characteristics must be changed frequently, when the addressees of outgoing messages have different messaging capabilities, or when different messaging settings should be used for different types of messages, for example.